4 ms·
We should. But even small baby step measures with no downsides like plastic bag bans are wildly contentious. I live in a county that's enacted one, and it's be
by i80and 1y ago
We should. But even small baby step measures with no downsides like plastic bag bans are wildly contentious.
I live in a county that's enacted one, and it's been unambiguously an improvement for the area on top of the core goal of "reduce plastic waste". But visiters look at me like I live in East Germany when I mention that.
I don't say this to discredit the idea, but it's politically treacherous, and not a lot of people are willing to stick their necks out for the right thing.
- const_cast 1y agoAfter a certain point we have to force consumer's hands and tell them to get the fuck over it. The level of inconvenience added to my life by not using plastic bags is so unbelievably small it's not even worth the oxygen I would need to spend to express my discomfort. It's really, really not a big deal. The fact that some people are extraordinarily high-stress and enjoy making problems out of nothing should not be our concern. Let's not optimize for those people, they'll never be happy anyway.
- wkat4242 1y agoHere they tax the bags. I don't use them so much, only if I really need them. The problem is, sometimes you do need them because you had to change plans and didn't bring any bags. I don't own a car or anything where I can leave them. Often leave the house without even a backpack. And paper bags don't work when it rains or when you need to bring heavy stuff like drinks.
- kelnos 1y agoThe rain complaint is fair, but I frequent several grocery stores that only use paper bags, and when I buy heavy stuff, they just double the bags. Never have had a problem with that.
- wkat4242 1y agoHmm I often buy 3 or 4 2L bottles and in my experience that is wayy too heavy for paper bags. And my water, I buy it in 6-packs of 2L, they come plastic-wrapped with a handle so you can carry them more easily. The tapwater in my city is not drinkable.